Ep 2. What Even Was That?! (2)

Ep 2. What Even Was That?! (2) Announcement

Mini Q&A

Q. Why is there no [Gender Bender] tag?

A. The short answer is because, subjectively, the story doesn't revolve around it enough (= I didn't think Serenis stayed male long enough to warrant being tagged as bent). It's the same reason why the story doesn't have tags like [School Life].

Q. Couldn't you just add both tags anyways then?

A. I could! But then the story runs into the potential of having readers come expecting an emphasis on Gender Bent character(s) or School Life, only to find out the story's severely lacking in those two components. In the end, I decided to only include tags that anyone would go "Yep, this story has this component" without a second thought.

Q. Ok ok, but if Serenis doesn't stay male for very long anyways, why reincarnate her into a boy in the first place?

A. [The author tried their best to answer this question without spoilers. And failed.]

Ep 2. What Even Was That?! (2)

Chirp. Chirp.

“Mngh...”

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

“Mnnghh....”

Chir-

“Ugh, will you be quiet already!!”

At the sudden burst of anger, the birds quickly flew away from the branch hanging just outside the window. All was quiet again.

“Hmph. Finally.”

Serenis laid her head softly back onto the pillow beneath her and cozily wrapped herself in blankets. She closed her eyes, bathing in the warm sunlight as she prepared to continue her nap.

“...?”

Ok, that time she almost fell for it.

“What...”

She slowly rose from her sheets.

Sunlight.

She turned her head to the other side.

Humans. A bunch of them. All looking at her with an odd expression on their face.

“...”

“...”

An uncomfortable silence ensued. Serenis began to wish the birds would come back.

“ZION!”

After what felt like an eternity, it was another human that broke the silence.

Dressed in an unmistakable mage garment, a somewhat-tall young man rushed into the infirmary. His faint blue hair that should’ve neatly been tied were sprawled into a mess, the string barely holding the remaining strands of hair together.

Upon spotting Serenis, he made his way in large strides. She could read a mix of worry and confusion on his face.

“Zion, what happened? Are you okay?”

“...Huh?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“What?”

...?

The two stared at each other, unsure of what’s going on.

The mage put one hand over his forehead, the other over the dragon’s.

“Hm, you don’t have a fever...did you get hit on the head too hard after all?”

Oh, what a kind, innocent soul. Worrying about the dragonlord being hit too hard with a twig.

“It’s quite alright. I appreciate the concern.”

...?

Was my voice always like this?

Come to think of it, Serenis vaguely recalled hearing the same voice before. Precisely...when she screamed at the birds, and at the boy that tried to kill her with a twig.

Serenis tried to clear her throat multiple times, but to no avail.

“...”

“The spell has no name. It’s a mere trick to scare little hatchlings.”

“...Hatchlings?”

“Children.”

“...”

Zion...you’re a child too...

But Patrick didn’t bother speaking those words aloud. He’d tried that 30 minutes ago, and to no avail.

After the light faded away, Serenis raised her voice again. Well, the voice she was using wasn’t hers, but anyways.

“Now will you believe me? I am not this ‘Zion’ that you speak of.”

“So...lemme get this straight. Your name isn’t Zion, but...Serenis.”

The little child nodded.

“And you’re actually a couple thousand years old.”

Again, the little child nodded.

“You’re not a human boy but actually the dragonlord who was just in a battle against the oldest being on this star, and after emerging victorious, you were bleeding to death...until waking up in the middle of that duel.”

“Precisely! You have a good memory.”

Patrick buried his face in his palms. His headache was getting worse.

“...Do you see the problem in that story?”

“Of course I do.”

“You do?”

“Yes. That boy was trying to kill me with a twig.”

“...”

“And the worst part is, it almost worked.”

No, that’s not the problem here at all...

“...C’mon Zion, this isn’t funny anymore. How can you become an entirely different person in a matter of hours? I’m not going to scold you, so stop joking.”

“How many times must I tell you? I am not joking.”

“...Ahem.”

As the stranger cleared his throat, both Zion...er, both Serenis and Patrick turned their heads to face them. Serenis was indifferent, but a dreaded expression swept across Patrick’s face.

“Professor...Karas...”

“Long time no see, Patrick. I do apologize for interrupting your conversation. I did not mean to eavesdrop, but I simply couldn’t cross this courtyard without hearing you two.”

“My goodness, you can speak human tongue? With that head?”

To be fair, the question Serenis asked was valid. This professor looked like he was suffering from chronic bird transformation. Or a bird suffering from chronic human transformation. He was wearing a suit and had 4 limbs, but that’s about where the similarities ended between him and a regular person. The black feathers, the claws, the beak, none of it helped.

But the professor only chuckled, as if amused by the remark.

“Fortunately, I can. Now...I believe I heard that you’ve suddenly become someone else, yes?”

“Professor, you don’t have to take him seriously.”

“It’s quite alright, Patrick. I’m deeply interested in such phenomena.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I study this field.”

“...What field is ‘this’, exactly?”

“Psychology.”

“Psychology...a study of the soul?”

“That’s correct.”

“That’s a field?”

“Yes.”

“Since when?”

“Since now. I invented it. Stop asking.”

“...”

Somehow, Patrick felt that these two would get along really well.